[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Paul Lee] Regarding the wage peak system, the court ruled in favor of KB Kookmin Bank in a lawsuit filed by A and 15 other retirees of KB Kookmin Bank, saying, "The wage peak system is invalid in violation of the Constitution, the Labor Standards Act and the Employment Act for the Elderly."

According to banks and legal circles on the 19th, KB Kookmin Bank won a "wage claim suit" filed last month by a former employee A and 15 others against the company.

The wage peak is a system that cuts wages when labor and management reach a certain age agreed upon, with the retirement age extended to 60. The system has been introduced and operated by commercial banks (KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, etc.), state-run banks, and local banks.

The court saw the purpose of KB Kookmin Bank's introduction of the wage peak system as justifiable. While extending the retirement age of workers, the wage peak system was implemented as part of measures to ensure the employment maintenance and stability of older workers, and the revised Elderly Employment Act (2013.5.22) also calls for employers to implement wage reform measures to cut the wages of workers who have reached a certain age, such as the wage peak system, for the purpose of extending workers' retirement age and job security.

According to KB Kookmin Bank's guidelines on the wage peak system, although the retirement age has been extended by two years due to the implementation of the wage peak system, the total amount of annual remuneration that can be paid from the age of 55 to the retirement age has decreased by 50% of the annual salary just before the implementation of the wage peak system.

In addition, measures were taken to set up separate jobs assigned only to wage peak employees as before for wage peak employees working at headquarters departments and back-line centers, and they performed a lot of duties until the wage peak system was applied, but the workload and work intensity were reduced after the application of the wage peak system.

In response, the court said it appears to have adjusted the intensity of the work instead of limiting the scope of duties carried out by the defendant as a target measure for wage cuts.

 

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